Brown Bag Lunch - September 23, 2021

The Stories We Tell: An Overview of Immigrant and Refugee Literature in America

In the third Brown Bag Lunch for the Center for Refugee & Immigrant Success (CRIS), Jeff Karem, Chair and Professor from the Department of English will present: The Stories We Tell: An Overview of Immigrant and Refugee Literature in America.

This presentation explored how immigrants and refugees have contributed to American literature, not only by the stories they have shared about their cultures, but also how they have reshaped our own national story. The presentation will examined how that literature overturns myths about immigration and America, defending the vital role of immigration in enriching the country. 

Jeff Karem is professor of English and Black Studies at Cleveland State University.  His research and teaching focus upon twentieth and twenty-first century American literatures, with an emphasis on migration and cultural interconnection throughout the Americas.  Karem has published articles on regional, ethnic, and immigrant literatures and is the author of two books: The Romance of Authenticity: The Cultural Politics of Regional and Ethnic Literatures and The Purloined Islands: Caribbean-U.S. Cross-Currents in Literature and Culture.

Watch now on YouTube: